Vehicle seat support

ABSTRACT

A vehicle seat support in which a single tension spring performs the functions previously performed, in one known construction of vehicle seat support, by a tension spring and two coiled springs, namely, control of the elevation of a seat frame assembly relative to a floor frame assembly and operation of a catch mechanism to maintain a chosen elevation setting of the seat frame assembly.

United States Patent Adams 1151 3,700,203 1451 Oct. 24, 1972 [54]VEHICLE SEAT SUPPORT [72] Inventor: Albert John Adams, 3, Richmond Way,Fetcham, England [22] Filed: Feb. 5, 1971 [21] Appl. No.: 113,005

[52] US. Cl. ..248/419, 297/346 [51] Int. Cl. ..B60n 1/02 I [58] Fieldof Search ..248/419, 378, 420; 108/145; 297/346 [56] References CitedUNITED STATES PATENTS 2,091,088 8/1937 Whedon et a1 ..248/419 X2,124,754 7/1938 Simpson et a1. ..108/145 2,175,452 10/1939 Whedon..248/419 X 2,149,945 3/ 1 939 Whedon .Q ..248/419 3,316,014 4/1967Barecki ...297/346 x 3,473,776 10/1969 Costin ..248/419 PrimaryExaminer-Chancellor E. Harris Attorney-Berman, Davidson & Berman [57ABSTRACT A vehicle seat support in which a single tension springperforms the functions previously performed, in one known constructionof vehicle seat support, by a tension spring and two coiled springs,namely, control of the elevation of a seat frame assembly relative to afloor frame assembly and operation of a catch mechanism to maintain achosen elevation setting of the seat frame assembly.

6 Claims, 6 Drawing Figures PATENTEUnm 24 022 4 SHEET 1 UF '4 S) m, M mw. L 4 Y/W 5 VEHICLE SEAT SUPPORT This invention relates to a vehicleseat support which is, inter alia, adjustable for height.

A vehicle seat support (hereinafter referred to as a vehicle seatsupport of the type described) comprises the following: I

1. a floor frame assembly which is intended to be secured either directto the vehicle floor or to the movable slide members of a seat slidemechanism whose fixed slide members are fixed to the vehicle floor; Y I

2. a seat frame assembly which is intended to be secured to the frame orother part of the vehicle seat;

3. parallel links at each side of said assemblies, one end of each ofsaid links being pivotally connected to the respective side element ofthe floor frame assembly and the other end of each of said links beingpivotally connected to the respective side element of the seat frameassembly, the arrangement being such that said seat frame and said floorframe assemblies are displaceable with respect to one another whilstbeing maintained in their desired relative attitudes (namely, eitherparallel to one another or at apredetermined angle with respect to oneanother);

4. each of the side elements of the floor frame assembly, which sideelements are parallel to one another, is provided with notches which arespaced from one another lengthwise of said side element and is alsoprovided with a female slide member in which there is arranged to slidea male slide member which forms a part of a catch lever assembly;

5. the said two male slide members are connected to one another by atransverse shaft. At or in the vicinity of each of its ends, said shaftis pivotally connected to the respective ends of two cross-levers orbracing levers whose other respective ends are pivotally connected tosaid respective side elements of the seat frame assembly at the pointsthereon to which are connected the other ends of those two links of thetwo pairs of parallel links which are in alignment with one anotheracross the seatsupport either towards the front of the seat or towardsthe rear of the seat, the arrangement being such that when the maleslide members are moved relative to the female slide members togetherwith the said shaft the seat frame assembly is displaced relative to thefloor frame assembly in accordance with the direction of motion of saidmale slide members (for example motion of said male slide memberstowards the front of the seat causing the seat frame assembly to bemoved downwardly towards the floor frame assembly if the forward andlower ends of the cross-levers are connected to said male slide membersand if the rear and upper ends of the cross-levers are connected to thesame points on the side elements of the seat frame assembly as are theupper ends of the rear transversely aligned links);

6. operating levers are fixedly connected to the ends of said shaft,each operating lever having means thereon intended to engage one of thenotches at a time which are provided in the adjacent side element of thefloor frame assembly. In the case of the operating lever at one end ofsaid shaft, said means is generally constituted by a boss whose axiallength is merely sufficient to ensure positive engagement thereof with anotch whereas, in the case of the operating lever at the other end ofsaid shaft, said boss is replaced by or is elongated to form a handle toenable the user of the seat to obtain the desired height-adjustment byrotation of the shaft which is at all times urged under the influence ofa spring or springs to move towards either the front or the back of theseat (for example towards the back of the seat when motion of said maleslide members towards the front of the seat causes the seat frameassembly to be moved downwardly, as aforesaid).

One known construction of vehicle seat support of the type described ismade in the following manner insofar as the particular parts mentionedare concerned.

a. the shaft to the ends of which the operating levers are connectedcomprises a tube into the open ends of which are inserted two spigotswhich are keyed to the tube, the projecting ends of the spigots beingwelded to said operating levers. Consequently, when the handle isoperated, the two operating levers and the spigots and the tube move asa single unit.

b. the relevant end of each of the two cross-levers is pivotallyconnected to said shaft between the respective end of said tube and theadjacent operating lever, the projecting end of the spigot concernedextending through an aperture formed in said relative end and alsothrough an aperture formed in the adjacent male slide members.

c, each of said spigots also extends through a coiled spring of whichone end is anchored to the adjacent cross-lever and of which'the otherend is anchored to the adjacent operating lever, the springs providingthe spring bias which tends to maintain the boss and the,

handle portion carried by the respective operating levers in positiveengagement with the selected notches in the side elements of the floorframe assembly.

d. one or each of two tension springs has the terminal or connectingloop at one end thereof connected to said shaft and the terminal orconnecting loop at the other endthereof connected to a transverse strutof the floor frame assembly, the tension spring or springs functioningsolely to tend'at all times to elevate the seat frame assembly to thegreatest permitted extent.

With said one construction, the number of operations to be carried outat the various stages of fabrication and assembly (for example weldingthe spigots to the operating levers, pinning the spigots to thetube attwo spaced locations in respect of each spigot, assembly of the coiledsprings on said spigots between the ends of the cross-levers and themale slide members) and the number of parts which have to be madeincrease the cost of the product and the principal object of the presentinvention is to provide a novel construction of vehicle seat support ofthe type described which is cheaper to manufacture by virtue of havingless parts to be fabricated and/or assembled and by virtue of the use ofat least one less fabricating step which is less costly than thefabricating step which it replaces, the novel construction operating atleast as efficiently as said known construction.

Accordingly, the present invention consists in a vehicle seat support ofthe type described (as hereinbefore defined) wherein the transverseshaft is a rod which is of circular section at least over end regionsthereof which are spaced from the mid-length point of said shaft,portions of said shaft which are located axially outwardly of said endregions with respect to said midlength point being of cross-sectionalshapes which are other than circular, a female slide member fixed toeach of the two parallel side elements of the floor frame assembly and amale slide member slidably engaging each female slide member, said endregions of said shaft extending not only through circular apertures inthe vicinities of the respective ends of the cross-levers but alsothrough circular apertures in said male slide members, a stop meanslocated on said shaft on that side of each of saidcross-levers which isnearer to said mid-length point whereby movement of said crossleversaxially of the shaft towards said point is prevented, said two operatinglevers having apertures therein which are complementary to thenon-circular cross-sectional shapes of said shaft portions which arelocated axially outwardly of said end regions, said shaft portionsextending through said apertures in the operating levers, terminalportions of said shaft projecting beyond those faces of the operatinglevers which are directed away from said mid-length point, said terminalportions being spun or peened over on to said faces, each operatinglever also carrying at least a boss extending ina direction transverselyof the floorframe assembly and intended to engage one at a time of anumber of spaced notches formed in the respective one of saidtwoparallel side elements, a stop provided at each end of each femaleslide member to limit the extent of the relative movements of the maleand female slide members, and a tension spring of which one end isanchored to the vehicle and of which the other end is so anchored tosaid shaft as to tend at all times not only to cause said shaft torotate about its longitudinal axis to ensure that said bosses areaccommodated in two of said notches which are in alignment with oneanother transversely of the floor frame assembly but also to cause saidseat frame assembly to assume its most elevated condition with respectto said floor frame assembly, whereby the adjustment of the height ofthe seat frame assembly inrelation to the floor frame assembly iseffected under-or against the influence of the power stored in saidtension spring simply by a user of the-seat rotating said shaft and theoperating levers connected thereto against the influence of the powerstored in said spring and thereby removing said bosses from therespective aligned notches in which they were accommodated and wherebythe maintenance of the selected height is effected simply by said userpermitting said shaft and the operating levers to be rotated under theinfluence of the power stored in said spring and said bosses to becomeaccommodated in other aligned notches.

In a preferred embodiment, the said one end of the tension spring isanchored to a transverse strut which forms a part of the floor frameassembly. There may, of course, be two tension springs instead of asingle tension spring.

In said preferred embodiment, said stops which are provided at theopposite ends of the female slide members are preferably constituted bydeformed end parts of those limbs of the female slide members with whichcorresponding limbs of the male slide members engage with freedom forsliding movement.

Further, in said preferred embodiment, there may be an annular spacingelement fixed to the respective end of each of the cross-levers, saidspacing element extending from the cross-lever away from said mid-lengthcirclips or devices constituting the stop means whereby said movement ofthe cross-levers axially of the shaft is prevented. I v

Again, in said preferred embodiment, said shaft portions which havecross-sectional shapes other than circular are preferably portions ofsaid shaft each of which is in cross-section a four-sided figure havingtwo opposite sides parallel to one another and to a diameter of thecircular rod which constitutes the shaft and whose other two sides arecurved outwardly andsymmetrically with respect to the longitudinal axisof the shaft, the radii of curvature of the curves being equal to oneanother and equal to the radius of the circular section rod.

Lastly in said preferred embodiment the rod which constitutes the shafthas drilled therethrough a diametral passageway which extends completelythrough the shaft, the passageway being intended for the accommodationof a split-pin, the angle at which said passageway is drilled being(when the shaft is assembled in the seat support) canted out of thevertical and away from the rear of the seat if the tension spring hasone end thereof anchored at the rear of the seat or away from the frontof the seat if said tension spring has one end thereof anchored at thefront of the seat. We have found that the optimum angle at which saidpassageway should be drilled in 36 with respect to the vertical. If thisangle is decreased by too great an extent the force applied by thespring which tends to cause the shaft to rotate as aforesaid will not besufficient, whereas if said angle is increased there will be a tendencyfor'the hooked end of the spring to foul on the outer. surface of theshaft.

The present invention will now be more particularly described with.reference to. the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 illustrates in side elevation a vehicle seat support of the typedescribed (as hereinbefore defined) constructed, arranged and operablein accordance with the present invention;

FIG. 2 illustrates a view of side vehicle seat support taken on the lineII II in FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 illustrates a front elevation of the vehicle seat supportillustrated in FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 illustrates in front elevation a shaft which forms a part of thevehicle seat support illustrated in FIGS. 1, 2 and 3;

FIG. 5 is an end view of said shaft; and

FIG. 6 illustrates diagrammatically and in a simplified manner analternative arrangement of some of the parts illustrated in FIGS. 1 to3.

Referring to FIGS. 1, 2 and 3; there is illustrated a vehicle seatsupport of the type described (as hereinbefore defined) which consistsof a floor frame assembly 10 and a seat frame assembly 11 which areconnected to one another by parallel links 12, 13, 14, 15. As will beseen in said Figures, the lower end of each of the links 12 to 15 ispivotally connected at 16 to the respective one of the side elements ofthe floor frame assembly 10, said side elements being maintained inparallel relationship by means of transverse struts which are alsoparallel to one another. Likewise, it will be seen in said Figures thatthe upper end of each of the links 12 to 15 is pivotally connected at 17to the respective one of the side elements of the seat frame assembly 11, said side elements being maintained in parallel relationship by meansof transverse struts which are also parallel to one another.

The parallel side elements of the floor frame as sembly 10 are fastenedto movable slide members 20 of a seat slide mechanism whose fixed slidemembers 21 are intended for attachment to the vehicle floor, for exampleby means of bolts (not illustrated) extending through holes 22 in themembers 21 and through holes in the vehicle floor (also notillustrated). A plate 23 is securely attached to one of the movableslide members 20 (namely, to the lefthand slide member 20 as seen inFIG. 3), said plate 23 I having a catch 24 mounted thereon for pivotalmovements about the axis of a pivot rod 25. The catch 24 is shaped atone end thereof to form a finger piece 26 and is shaped at the other endthereof to form a dog or tooth 27, said catch being biased (by means ofa spring 28 anchored at one end 29 thereof to the catch 24 and at theother end 30 thereof to the plate 23) in such'a manner that the dog 27is caused to extend through one of a number of apertures in theleft-hand fixed slide member 21 as seen in FIG. 3 and to engage one of anumber of notches formed in the edge of the associated movable slidemember 20. The apertures in said member 21 and the notches formed insaidmember 20 are not illustrated in the drawings because thearrangement concerned or mechanical equivalents thereof are well-knownin the art (for example in United Kingdom Patent Specification No.648,l83), being provided for the releasable securing of the member 20 tothe member 21 in order to maintain a selected setting of the members 20relative to the members 21. I

It will be seen from FIGS. 2 and 3 that each of the side elements of thefloor frame assembly is provided with or includes a female slide memberin which there is arranged to slide a male slide member 36 which forms apart of a catch lever assembly which will now be described in detail. Ashaft 37 extends transversely of the vehicle seat support, said shaftbeing illustrated in FIGS. 4 and 5 and consisting of a circular-sectionrod which is provided with:

i. two spaced continuous circumferential grooves 38 which are normal tothe longitudinal axis of the shaft 37 for the accommodation of twoE-clips or similar snapfastening devices 39 (see FIG. 2);

ii. shaft portions 40 which, in cross-section, are foursided figureseach of which is constituted by two opposite flat sides 41 which areparallel to one another and parallel to a diameter of thecircular-section rod and by two other sides 42 which are curvedoutwardly and symmetrically with respect to the longitudinal axis of theshaft, the radii of curvature of the curves being equal to one anotherand equal to the radius of the circular-section rod iii. end regions 43which are of circular section but of reduced diameter compared with thatof the greater part of the length of the shaft 37, said end regions 43being, however, coaxial with the shaft 37 and not eccentric and iiii. adrilled hole or passageway 44 extending diametrally of the shaft 37 atan angle of 36 to the plane containing the diameter which is referred toin paragraph (ii) above.

Said shaft 37 has two portions 45 which are defined or bounded by thegrooves 38 on the one hand and the shaft portions 40 on the other handand these two portions 45 extend into and are partially accommodatedwithin annular spacing elements 46 which extend through and are securedto corresponding one ends of two cross-levers 50 whose'correspondingother ends are pivotally connected at 17 to the respective side elementsof the seat frame assembly 11. The devices 39 prevent the cross-levers50 and the attached elements 46 from moving axially of the shaft 37towards the midlength point of the shaft beyond said devices. That partof each of the portions 45 which is not accommodated within therespective one of the spacing elements 46 extends into a hole orpassageway which is formed in the respective one ofthe male slidemembers 36, whereby said male slide members 36 are mounted on the shaft37.

The shaft portions 40 extend into apertures in operating levers 51, saidapertures having shapes which are complementary to those of the shaftportions 40, whereby movement of that end of one of the operating levers51 which is remote from said aperture therein angularly about thelongitudinal axis of the shaft 37 will cause identical angular movementof said shaft about said axis.

Lastly, two washers 52 are placed on the end regions 43 and the said endregions are spun over or peened over on to the washers to retain theassembly in its desired condition.

The upper operating lever 51 as seen in FIG. 2 had fixed thereto one endof a cranked handle 52 of which a part is illustrated resting in one ofa series of notches 53. The lower operating lever 51 as seen in FIG. 2has fixed thereto a boss 54 of which a part is illustrated resting inone of another series of notches 53 (see also FIG. 1) identical with thefirst-mentioned series of notches 53. The two series of notches 53 arein alignment with one another transversely of the vehicle seat supportand are formed in the upper edges of the respective side elements of thefloor frame assembly 10.

It will be noticed from FIG. 2 that the female slide members 36 havespaced V-shaped notches formed therein, said notches 60 creating twospaced tongues 61 and an intermediate tongue 62. When the catch leverassembly (which consists of the shaft 37, the devices 39, thecross-levers 50 and their attached spacing elements 46, the male slidemembers 36, the operating levers 51, the washers 52, the spun over orpeened over end regions 43, the handle 52 and the boss 54) has beenplaced in position with the male slide members 36 engaging theintermediate tongue 62 of the female slide members 35, said spacedtongues 61 are formed or deformed down so as to limit the freedom forsliding movements made by the male slide members 36 relative to thefemale slide members 35 towards either the front or the back of thevehicle seat support.

The right-hand transverse strut of the floor frameassembly 10 isprovided with a hole 63 through which there is arranged to extend ahooked end 64 of a tension spring 65. A, split pin 66 is caused toextend through the passageway 44 drilled through the shaft 37 and isdeformed in the'usual manner to connect the pin 66 securely to theshaft, the other hooked end 67 of said spring 65 arranged to extendthrough the loop or eye 68 of the split pin 66. It will be seen fromFIG. 1 that the passageway 44 and, therefore, the split pin 66 extendingtherethr'ough are so disposed that the loop or eye 68 is canted awayfrom the transverse strut to which the hooked end 64 of the spring isattached, this arrangement ensuring that the spring 65 acts upon theshaft 37 to tend to cause the respective parts of the handle 52 and theboss 54 to engage one of the respective notches 53. Furthermore, byreason of the fact that the lower ends (as seen in FIGS. 1 and 3) of thecrosslevers 50 are pivotally connected to the shaft 37, said spring 65will always tend to cause the seat frame assembly 11 to assume itsgreatest elevation above the floor frame assembly 1 when the seat frameassembly is not supporting a load (for example the driver of thevehicle) and when said respective parts of the handle 52 and the boss 54are lifted out of engagement with the respective notches 53. Movementupwardly of said seat frame assembly 11 under said spring influence, ormovement downwardly of said seat frame assembly 11 against the influenceof the spring 65 and under the influence of, say, the weight of thedriver, is always such that the attitude of the seat frame assembly 11relative to the floor frame assembly remains unaltered by virtue of theparallel link motion provided by the links 12, 13, 14, 15.

Referring briefly to FIG. 6, there is illustrated therein an alternativearrangement in which the relative positions of some of the constituentparts of the vehicle seat support which has been described above withreference to FIGS. 1 to 5 have been reversed without any loss of theoperating efficiency of the vehicle seat support illustrated in saidFIGS. 1 to 5. Further description of FIG. 6 is deemed to be unnecessary.

The most important advantages obtained by employment of the presentinvention are as follows:

Firstly, the use of a circular section rod to act as the shaft 37eliminates the steps of connecting (in the manner previously described)the respective one ends of two spigots to the ends of the tube which, insaid one known construction, acted as the shaft 37. Also, the welding ofthe respective other ends of said two spigots to the operating levers iseliminated, positive connection of the operating levers 51 to the shaft37 being effected in a simple manner by the shaft portions 40 and thecomplementary apertures in the operating levers 51.,

Secondly, the coiled springs which were provided in said one knownconstruction of vehicle seat support in order to bias the boss and thehandle portion at all times into positive engagement with the selectednotches in the side elements of the floor frame as sembly areunnecessary. Said bias is, in the construction according to the presentinvention, provided by the spring 65 which performs two functions,namely, providing said bias and tending at all times to elevate the seatframe assembly to the greatest permitted extent.

' The elimination of these operational steps (namely,

pinning each of the two spigots to the respective tube end at two spacedlocations and welding the spigots to the operating levers) and theelimination of the assembly step (namely, assembly of the two coiledsprings on said spigots between the cross-levers and the male slidemembers whilst at the same time ensuring that one end of each springengaged the respective cross-lever and that the other end of each springcorrectly engaged the respective operating lever to provide said bias)and the omission of the two coiled springs have all contributed to asignificant saving of labor and purchasing costs. Not only is itunnecessary to purchase or to manufacture the two coiled springs butalso the spinning over or peening over of the end regions 43 on to thewashers 52 in the construction according to the present invention andthe creation of the shaped shaft portions 40 and of the end regions 43are less expensive operations than the double-pinning of the spigots tothe tube ends and the welding of the spigots to the operating levers inthe manufacture of the said one known construction.

It will be appreciated that the grooves 38 and the 'E- clips or devices39 had to be provided because of the abandonment of a tube for the shaftand of the two spigots inserted into the tube ends and pinned thereto,

7 the shoulders formed by the difference between the outside diameter ofthe tube and the outside diameter of each of the spigots acting, in saidone known construction, to prevent axial movements of the crossleverstowards one another along the shaft.

I claim: I

1. A vehicle seat support comprising a floor frame assembly and a seatframe assembly each including two parallel side elements, parallel linksat each side of said assemblies pivoted at their ends respectively tothe side elements of the floor frame and seat frame assemblies, a seriesof longitudinally spaced notches in each of said side elements of thefloor frame assembly, a female slide member. fixed to eachof said sideelements of the floor frame assembly and a male slide member, having acircular aperture therein, slidably engaging each female slide member, acatch lever assembly including two cross-levers whose upper ends arepivotally connected to the side elements of the seat frame assembly andwhose lower ends are provided with circular apertures receiving atransverse shaft, and two operating levers on said shaft each having aboss engageable in one of said notches in the adjacent side element ofthe floor frame assembly, said transverse shaft being a rod which is ofcircular section at least over end regions thereof which are spaced fromthe mid-length point of said shaft, portions of said shaft which arelocated axially outwardly of said end regions with respect to saidmid-length point being of cross-sectional shapes which are other thancircular, said end regions of said shaft extending not only through thecircular apertures in the cross-levers but also through said circularapertures in the male slide members, a stop means located on said shafton that side of each of said cross-levers which is nearer to saidmid-length point whereby movement of said cross-levers axially of shafttoward said point is prevented, said two operating levers havingapertures therein which are complementary to the non-circularcross-sectional shapes of said shaft portions which are located axiallyoutwardly of said end regions, said shaft portions extending throughsaid apertures in the operating levers, terminal portions of said shaftprojecting beyond those faces of the operating levers which are directedaway from said mid-length point, said terminal portions being spun orpeened over onto said faces, a stop provided at each end of each femaleslide member to limit the extent of the relative movements of the maleand female slide members, and a tension spring of which one end isadapted to be anchored to the vehicle and of which the other end is soanchored to said shaft as to tend at all times not only to cause saidshaft to rotate about its longitudinal axis to ensure that saidbosses-are accommodated in two of said notches which are in alignmentwith one another transversely of the floor frame assembly but also tocause said seat frame assembly to assume its most elevated conditionwith respect to said floor frame assembly whereby the adjustment of theheight of the seat frame assembly in relation to .the floor frameassembly is effected under or against the influence of the power storedin said tension spring simply by a user of the seat rotating said shaftand the operating'levers connected thereto against the influence of thepower stored in said spring and thereby removing said bosses from therespective aligned notches in which they were accommodated and wherebythe maintenance of the selected height is effected simply by said userpermitting said shaft and the operating levers to be rotated under theinfluence of the power stored in said spring and said bosses to becomeaccommodated in other aligned notches.

2. A vehicle seat support as claimed in claim 1, wherein said stopswhich are provided at the opposite ends of the female members areconstituted by deformed end parts of those limbs of the female slidemembers with which corresponding limbs of the male slide members engagewith freedom for sliding movement, the deformation of said end partstaking place after the catch lever assembly which includes said maleslide members has been caused to engage said female slide members.

3. A vehicle seat support as claimed in claim 1, wherein said shaft isprovided with spaced continuous circumferential grooves normal to thelongitudinal axis of the shaft, snap-fastening device being detachablyfastened to said shaft at each of said grooves and being located in eachof said grooves, said devices constituting the stop means whereby saidmovement of the cross-levers axially of the shaft is prevented.

- 4. A vehicle seat support as claimed in claim 1, wherein said shaftportions which have cross-sectional shapes other than circular arepreferably portions of said shaft each of which is in cross-section afour-sided figure having two opposite sides parallel to ,one another andto a diameter of the circular rod which constitutes the shaft and whoseother two sides are curved outwardly and symmetrically with respect tothe longitudinal axis of the shaft, the radii of curvature of the curvesbeing equal to one another and equal to the radius of the circularsection rod.

vehicle seat support as claimed in claim 1,

wherein said rod which constitutes the shaft has drilled therethrough adiametral passageway which extends completely through the shaft, thepassageway being intended for the accommodation of a split-pin having aneye at one end thereof, the angle at which said passageway is drilledbeing such that the split-pin accommodated therein is canted out of thevertical and away from that part of the seat at which one end of thetension spring is anchored, the other end of said tension spring beinganchored to said eye.

6. A vehicle seat support as claimed in claim 5, wherein the angle atwhich said passageway is drilled is 36 with respect to a diametral planewhich is parallel to each of two parallel sides of a four-sided figurewhose other two sides are curved outwardly and symmetrically withrespect to the longitudinal axis of the shaft, the radii of curvature ofthe curves being equal .to one another and equal to the radius of thecircular section rod, the four-sided figure being the shape incrosssection of each of said shaft portions.

1. A vehicle seat support comprising a floor frame assembly and a seatframe assembly each including two parallel side elements, parallel linksat each side of said assemblies pivoted at their ends respectively tothe side elements of the floor frame and seat frame assemblies, a seriesof longitudinally spaced notches in each of said side elements of thefloor frame assembly, a female slide member fixed to each of said sideelements of the floor frame assembly and a male slide member, having acircular aperture therein, slidably engaging each female slide member, acatch lever assembly including two cross-levers whose upper ends arepivotally connected to the side elements of the seat frame assembly andwhose lower ends are provided with circular apertures receiving atransverse shaft, and two operating levers on said shaft each having aboss engageable in one of said notches in the adjacent side element ofthe floor frame assembly, said transverse shaft being a rod which is ofcircular section at least over end regions thereof which are spaced fromthe midlength point of said shaft, portions of said shaft which arelocated axially outwardly of said end regions with respect to saidmid-length point being of cross-sectional shapes which are other thancircular, said end regions of said shaft extending not only through thecircular apertures in the cross-levers but also through said circularapertures in the male slide members, a stop means located on said shafton that side of each of said crosslevers which is nearer to saidmid-length point whereby movement of said cross-levers axially of theshaft toward said point is prevented, said two operating levers havingapertures therein which are complementary to the non-circularcross-sectional shapes of said shaft portions which are located axiallyoutwardly of said end regions, said shaft portions extending throughsaid apertures in the operating levers, terminal portions of said shaftprojecting beyond those faces of the operating levers which are directedaway from said mid-length point, said terminal portions being spun orpeened over onto said faces, a stop provided at each end of each femaleslide member to limit the extent of the relative movements of the maleand female slide members, and a tension spring of which one end isadapted to be anchored to the vehicle and of which the other end is soanchored to said shaft as to tend at all times not only to cause saidshaft to rotate about its longitudinal axis to ensure that said bossesare accommodated in two of said notches which are in alignment with oneanother transversely of the floor frame assembly but also to cause saidseat frame assembly to assume its most elevated condition with respectto said floor frame assembly whereby the adjustment of the height of theseat frame assembly in relation to the floor frame assembly is effectedunder or against the influence of the power stored in said tensionspring simply by a user of the seat rotating said shaft and theoperating levers connected thereto against the influence of the powerstored in said spring and thereby removing said bosses from therespective aligned notches in which they were accommodated and wherebythe maintenance of the selected height is effected simply by said userpermitting said shaft and the operating levers to be rotated under theinfluence of the power stored in said spring and said bosses to becomeaccommodated in other aligned notches.
 2. A vehicle seat support asclaimed in claim 1, wherein said stops which are provided at theopposite ends of the female members are constituted by deformed endparts of those limbs of the female slide members with whichcorresponding limbs of the male slide members engage with freedom forsliding movement, the deformation of said end parts taking place afterthe catch lever assembly which includes said male slide members has beencaused to engage said female slide members.
 3. A vehicle seat support asclaimed in claim 1, wherein said shaft is provided with spacedcontinuous circumferential grooves normal to the longitudinal axis ofthe shaft, snap-fastening device being detachably fastened to said shaftat each of said grooves and being located in each of said grooves, saiddevices constituting the stop means whereby said movement of thecross-levers axially of the shaft is prevented.
 4. A vehicle seatsupport as claimed in claim 1, wherein said shaft portions which havecross-sectional shapes other than circular are preferably portions ofsaid shaft each of which is in cross-section a four-sided figure havingtwo opposite sides parallel to one another and to a diameter of thecircular rod which constitutes the shaft and whose other two sides arecurved outwardly and symmetrically with respect to the longitudinal axisof the shaft, the radii of curvature of the curves being equal to oneanother and equal to the radius of the circular section rod.
 5. Avehicle seat support as claimed in claim 1, wherein said rod whichconstitutes the shaft has drilled therethrough a diametral passagewaywhich extends completely through the shaft, the passageway beingintended for the accommodation of a split-pin having an eye at one endthereof, the angle at which said passageway is drilled being such thatthe split-pin accommodated therein is canted out of the vertical andaway from that part of the seat at which one end of the tension springis anchored, the other end of said tension spring being anchored to saideye.
 6. A vehicle seat support as claimed in claim 5, wherein the angleat which said passageway is drilled is 36* with respect to a diametralplane which is parallel to each of two parallel sides of a four-sidedfigure whose other two sides are curved outwardly and symmetrically withrespect to the longitudinal axis of the shaft, the radii of curvature ofthe curves being equal to one another and equal to the radius of thecirculAr section rod, the four-sided figure being the shape incross-section of each of said shaft portions.